Oil Closes Mixed but Maintains Gains Ahead of OPEC Meeting

Oil prices fluctuated on Friday and showed a mixed performance but still managed to register weekly and monthly gains on the back of positive expectations for demand recovery.

Brent crude futures for July delivery rose by 17 cents, or 0.2%, to finish at $69.63 per barrel, its highest closing level since 11 March, to register 4.8% weekly gains and a 3.5% monthly rise.

Meanwhile, Brent August contracts closed lower by 48 cents, or 0.7%, at $68.72 per barrel.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for July delivery lost 53 cents, or 0.8%, and ended the session at $66.32 per barrel, after ending Thursday’s trading at its highest level in over two and a half years, after data showed a rise in U.S. oil rigs in what signals production increase.

On the weekly and monthly levels, the U.S. crude benchmark most active contract gained about 4.3%.

Markets anticipate the upcoming OPEC+ summit next week to set the output policy the next month.

Major producers are currently easing output cuts gradually.

Earlier today, data showed that the number of active rigs drilling for crude oil in the U.S. rose for the fourth consecutive week by three rigs to 359, according to Baker Hughes.